Directions

Place turnips into a saucepan with the water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the turnip is soft, about 5 minutes. Once tender, stir in the kidney beans, and cook 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the cumin and fennel, and cook until the spices toast and become fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the onion, and cook until it turns golden brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the minced ginger and garlic, cook and stir for 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes and salt, and continue cooking until the mixture turns pasty. Finally, stir in the paprika, turmeric, ground ginger, and 2 tablespoons water; cook 2 minutes more.

Add the tomato mixture to the turnips, and simmer 10 minutes. Season with garam masala before serving.

Most Helpful Positive Review

Jul 08, 2008

A very tasty, flavorful recipe. I love the addition of the cumin and fennel seeds (yes, they are pricey, but they are a must in the dish. Ground cumin will not work. And, you'll probably find yourself adding the seeds into other dishes. They create a nice zip to salads.) I usually add 1/2 lb of ground beef to make it a heartier meal especially during the cold winter months or if I am too lazy to make rice, but the vegetarian version is also nice. I think turnips are an underused vegetable and this recipe uses them to maximum advantage. I like how the turnips start to absorb the tomato mixture flavor. My only problem is that I usually have some water leftover in the pot. The liquid doesn't create a real sauce, so I usually drain the mixture before serving. Overall, great dish. It won't appeal to all taste buds, but we certainly enjoy it.

Most Helpful Critical Review

First I omitted the salt and the oil due to dietary restrictions. I used a bit of water in place of the oil. I added a couple grinds of fresh melenge pepper in place of the salt. I also used regular garam masala because I didn't have any Kashmiri garam masala and added it in the last few minutes of cooking. It was wonderful with the changes and would prob be wonderful with no changes. It is extremely flavorful and the blend of spices is perfect. You won't miss salt at all in this dish if you choose to omit it. It has the sweet savory taste of a good Indian dish with the turnips adding a nice sweetness to the dish. No one will know they are turnips unless you tell them. I was asked what they were because they were 'so good'. I served on a bed of Saffron rice. It was a perfect compliment to this. I would suggest a bed of rice to accompany this dish. Use your favorite.

Great recipe! I had no idea what to do with my turnips from my weekly bag of CSA veggies, but I love Indian (and similar) food, so I tried this recipe. I'm glad I did! The recipe was easy, took about 20 minutes start to finish, and the flavor was wonderful. I agree that the fennel seeds are crucial to the flavor. I normally don't like turnips, but the spices covered (or mellowed?) the sharpness/bitterness of the turnips, and I scarfed them down with no problem (as did the kids, who just said that the "potatoes" were a little weird)! The sauce is a little watery, but we served it over rice, and the rice soaked up a lot of the juice.

Great introduction to CSA turnips! Thank you, Allrecipes :) The sauce is easy and definitely useful for other foods as well - tempeh, chicken, or shrimp with bell pepper would be nice - but it was so fun to make something that sounded wierd and tasted so good!. I did drain off most of the turnip cooking liquid after reading other reviews, so the sauce was just right to go over basmati rice.

This was SO tasty. It is a perfect blend of flavors like none other! Reading other reviews, I let the steam evaporate almost all of the liquid but hub (not knowing that I did that on purpose) said it would be better if it had more liquid to go over the rice. I used 1 c. stewed tomatoes as I didn't have fresh. Next time, I'll try using the whole can. This was just wonderful. It was a blend of spices that we don't use often enough so it had a very unique, fantastic flavor to us. A true keeper. Thanks!

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.